Tuesday, February 20, 2018

WEP: In Too Deep

This time around, the theme is In Too Deep. This is a wonderful theme with countless possibilities, and I deeply enjoyed writing this piece! (Please excuse my terrible pun. I couldn't resist.)

I hope you enjoy reading it!

Contemptible Cupid

Don’t piss off Cupid. He’s a vindictive twerp. We’ve worked together for countless years, so
I should know.

Dispense with all your mental
images of Cupid.The little cherub in a
diaper you see on Valentine’s Day cards is adorable, but that’s not a practical
work uniform.Instead, he wears tight jeans
and a button-down black shirt that he leaves open to show off his washboard abs.With a quiver of arrows slung over his
shoulder and rings of golden hair falling into stunning blue eyes, it’s a wonder
half the population doesn’t fall into lust at first sight.Maybe they do for the brief second they see
him before his arrow redirects their amorous interests.

The work is straightforward.He shoots people, ensuring their budding
love.I have the glamorous job of
fetching those arrows and cleaning them so they can be reused.What?Did you think the arrow supply was limitless?Nope.It would be too cost ineffective not to reuse them.

Cupid likes to brag about the
skill it takes to send the arrows sailing painlessly into the correct target.And yeah, I must admit, it’s not an easy
task.I’ve tried my hand at target practice,
so I appreciate the fact that the dude is good.He’s just insufferable when he’s been going on about how magnificent he
is over his third beer of the evening.

Judging by the faces of bar patrons
from all over the world, I’m not the only one he’s irritated.People simply don’t say anything, because his
muscles and weaponry make him intimidating.Which is fortunate, because he has the power to mess up their love lives.That’s dangerous stuff.

One time we were chilling after
work in a London pub, and Cupid started in with his usual antics.I watched from my seat, nursing my pint of
ale and bowl of salted peanuts while he droned on about his prowess. A guy named Richie, who was three sheets to
the wind, told Cupid to stop being such a wanker.I sputtered, beer pouring out of my
nose.Even as pain flared in my nostrils,
my main concern was for the poor fool who’d unwittingly stepped into the
biggest metaphorical pile of crap he’d ever stumbled upon.

Cupid’s pale cheeks darkened,
fury igniting his eyes. The sight of a
grown man with actual flames licking at his pale irises made Richie stumble
back in fear.Cupid waved his hand at
me.“Come on.Let’s get out of here,” he barked.

Maybe the guy felt relieved that
we left instead of starting a fist fight, but he would have been better off
were that the case.Instead, we went to
the Richie’s house and, by the time we were done, his boyfriend was head over
heels in love with their neighbor.

I should have known better, but that
didn’t stop me from screwing up.

On the night of my epic mistake, I’d
had a few beers.We were at a bar in New
Jersey, and closing time was fast approaching.Cupid’s captive audience had dwindled, leaving only me to suffer.He was in the middle of a top ten list of his
best matchmaking strikes when something inside me snapped.

I slammed my mug on the bar.A wave of beer slopped out over the rim,
drenching my hand.“Can you please shut up
for once?” I demanded.“You’re so damn
full of yourself.Yes, your job is hard,
but you’ve been doing it for millennia.It’s kind of reasonable to expect you’d be good at it by now.And my job isn’t as easy as you might
think.Sure, you send your arrows in
painlessly, but pulling them out painlessly is harder.Have you seen the way they’re shaped?I’m good at what I do, too, but you don’t see
me prattling on about it to people who don’t care!”

The moment the words were out, I
regretted them. Flames erupted in Cupid’s eyes.I tried to make a beeline from the bar, but he caught up with me on the sidewalk
outside.The arrow he struck me with
carried with it a special kind of curse.“May your love always bring you torment.”It hurt like hellfire going in.When I tore it from my body, it left a gaping
hole.

I stared at Cupid, arrow in hand
while blood gushed from my wound.I trembled,
but it wasn’t with fury at what he’d done.I looked in his eyes as the fire receded, cooled by icy blue, and my
knees went weak with longing.

Realizing what that meant, resentment
bubbled in my chest, but it was nowhere near powerful enough to dampen the
surging love.

I’m in deep.I love him, and I loathe that I love him, but
the love keeps growing despite my wishes against it.

I look at Cupid’s strong arms,
the way his sinewy form tenses as he’s about to release an arrow.When he lets it fly, I feel once again the anguish
of that fateful arrow he struck me with.The ache settles deep into my bones, consuming me.I watch those full lips quirk into a cocky grin
after the arrow burrows deep into its unwitting target, and I wonder if the
touch of those lips to mine would ease the pain or literally set me ablaze.Not that such a thing would ever happen.He feels no such need for my touch.He designed his spell that way.

I am immortal.So is Cupid.We are stuck together for eternity.There is no escape.I’ve accepted
my fate, but I despise it as I’ve come to detest love.

Have you ever fallen in love and
felt that painful twinge of realization?That’s me not caring whether it hurts you as I retrieve the arrow from
your tender human flesh.Why should I concern
myself with your fleeting pain when I’m stuck with eternal agony?

I'm doubling down on the brilliant! Such fun, and a warning to all. Be careful whom you choose to criticize, especially if they are a God. I think Cupid enjoys screwing with the heart of his victims. A God who doesn't know love is in charge of love. Classic!

Brilliant is the word, L.G. Loved it! Great humour. Great concept of the recycled arrows. Liked how you put Cupid in realistic settings - bars. Now there's a sad case of unrequited love suffered eternally. Ouch.

It is so easy to say, "I love you" but to mean it makes the difference. I said it once and will mean it forever. Pain is but the part of love, I believe and that keeps me loving more everyday. Well said.

This was beyond epic! Loved that you reached back to the classics for your story, a god and eternally unrequited love - can't get any deeper than that. Super take on the prompt! Enjoyed reading just as deeply, thank you. :)

I began laughing as I read the first two paragraphs with his button down black shirt and his washboard abs. :-) Your presentation of Cupid and his partner unrequieted love being forever yoked together is brilliant. Makes you want to think, is love ever quieted?An outstanding piece of work.Shalom aleichem,Pat G

You know this makes more sense than a cute little cherub. And love can be painful when not returned. Excellent touches of humour, just enough tartness and something nice to look at. Liked your story very much, made me smile. Well done.

Hi LGA creative take on Cupid and the prompt. Those arrows go deep but are kind to the environment. What could be better? I love the imaginative flair you bring to this story, Cupid's image and your total revamp of him. It's a delicious makeover. The icing on the cake is the unmistakable voice of unrequited love. Genius.